Saturday, September 27, 2008

Ho Hum Debate

The biggest news out of the debate was that McCain was coming. Word on the street is that Governor Haley Barbour told him, in so many words, to get his butt down here or else. If there was one thing all Mississippians agreed on, it was that the debate must go on - we wanted our moment in the national spotlight. Haley wasn't about to be embarrassed by having his nominee ruin Mississippi's day.

I read somewhere today (sorry but I forget where) that a debate is like Nascar. Everyone watches for one reason - to see a crash. Unfortunately, there was no crash. There were some fender benders, but they were about equal. I doubt seriously that this debate will win or change any votes.

However, I did go to a great debate watching party and enjoyed great food, drink, and friends - all Democrats, of course. (Contrary to popular opinion, there are some here.)

UPDATE: All the polls are saying that Obama won the debate quite handily.

11 comments:

vjack said...

I think this debate showed that Obama could hold his own on foreign policy. Given that this was supposed to be McCain's strength, I thought this was the most significant thing about the debate.

Anonymous said...

I am hearing that we all under estimated McCain which is why some think he won. After McCain's crazy erratic behavior all week I think we did not know what to expect. I think we expected the worse and he maintained, I'll give him that. But polls are showing Obama the victor and I think Obama stuck to the truth and to facts. McCain bent the truth, made innuendos, exaggerations--Republicans are pros at this, but I think Americans are finally getting too savy for these tactics that are old and tired.

How great was it that the debate was at Ole Miss--to hear Wolfe Blitzer say "Ole Miss"--was surreal! But that it almost didn't happen because of McCain--it ruined the momentum in Oxford and if Obama had not stood his ground --wanting the debate, it would not have happened, so thank you Obama.

Have we underestimated Palin in this next debate? We shall see. She may do as McCain did, not listen to questions, but simply recite memorized statements. I hope it's as entertaining as her interview with Couric.



.

Anonymous said...

McCain looked pitiful. There may not have been a "crash", as Casey said, but McCain just didn't do well. After this debate, in addition to Sarah Palin's ridiculous performance on CBS, I am a very worried Republican.

Anonymous said...

It was not a fair match when you think of it. One candidate was ranked 894th out of the 899 cadets in his graduating class at the Naval Academy and the other candidate graduated as editor of the Harvard Law Review. This lopsided intellectual match was a clear indicator of the two men's abilities. It seems clear that if McCain's father was not a high ranking Navy officer he would not have been admitted to the Naval Academy.

McCain's campaign needs to find a forum where his ignorance isn't displayed so prominently. I have to agree with the earlier blogger's comments on Sarah Palin's interview on CBS this week. She is clearly a complete imbecile. She's not qualified to run Alaska and certainly not qualified to be second in line to the presidency of the United States.

Anonymous said...

Jindal DESTROYED Blanco in every debate they had a few years ago. I mean she looked a hundred times worse than McCain after a few years of torture, and she still beat Jindal.

Also, the Druge Report poll had McCain winning the debate. (I'd mention Fox Poll too. But, you guys ignore anything on their site)

Anonymous said...

I am SO ready for this election to be over!!

All this negative hype about McCain is ridiculous. He is by far and away the better candidate. He has the experience and the contacts and resolve to lead our country.

Obama is untested in just about all arenas of politics! He is a neophyte, for Pete's sake. No experience. No talent except the ability to B>S> and look pitiful and victimized whenever someone says anything about him.

Character. Look at the thugs that all his life he has surrounded himself with. Wackos and hate- mongers. And look at his recent liason- Biden. What a scum- bag. He can flash that cheesy grin while he is ripping into another person.

And whether all you liberals will EVER admit it, the ONLY reason that Obama EVER got ANYWHERE in this game is that he is black and liberal. That's IT.

And liberals never vote FOR a candidate- they always vote AGAINST a candidate, which is, of course, the conservative.

I will always say- God bless Bush!! He has had one of the most challenged tenures in recent history. 9/11, hurricanes, fires, terrorists, Nancy Pelosi- the list goes on.

And if we were to criticize his actions and decisions, remember- what would YOU have done in similiar situations with the care of the peoples of the U.S. entrusted to you? Would you have been able to make better decisions in extreme times? Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown.

And even though I am a conservative at heart, I truly felt some agreement with Hillary. SHE is battle worthy. SHE has proven her resolve in the political arena.

Let's get this damn thing over with, get a new leader in place, and pray that they lead us in days of happiness, propserity and peace. It will be hard, regardless of who takes over at the helm.

Anonymous said...

You bet, I would have made better decisions than Bush. Yes, I would have ( and did see) seen that Iraq was a diversion from the real issue of Afghanistan and Bin Laden. That invading Iraq would do only one thing (aside from padding the pockets of cronies) and that is inflame Al- Qaeda and give them justification for hating the US even more. Our involvement in Iraq has cost us the dear lives of over 4000 service men and women, over 1.2 million innocent Iraqis, diminished our power and respect as a nation, drained our economic coffers for generations to come. Vote for McCain, who by nature and nurture is a lover of war? No way. He never fails to remind you that he is a victim of war. But at least he did come back And his service does not qualify him for presidency any more than Palin's close proximity to Russia qualifies her for V.P.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11:21-

I am so glad that you are a genius and a prophet that could have averted all the woes that we have experienced.

Why don't you run for public office, if you are such a whiz at foreign and domestic affairs? 5 will get you 10 that had you been prez on 9/11 you would have been unable to leave your closet and from sucking your thumb.

McCain a war- monger? Hardly. Do you know his record. I bet not. You are probably a dyed- in-the-wool liberal that thinks that all conservatives and republicans LOVE war, hate the poor, are out only for themselves , etc.

Look at some of the recent political scandals. Democrats steal money, while repubs are sex driven.

And why is it that when I see a crowd of liberal politicians gathered, they all look sooooo constipated and unhappy!!?? Look at a gathering of conservatives and they generally are laughing and enjoying whatever life throws at them.

And lastly, this financial crisis is the result of-...ta-daaaaa- good ole Bill Clinton, who relaxed or abolished a lot of the regulations on the banking industry when he was prez. Regulations that had been put into place after the horrible S and L crisis some years back. ( deja vu)
And , should I remind you, that McCain was a very loud critic of how the industry was working and that there needed to be guidelines and oversight enacted to help keep this very thing from happening!!!

Where was Obama, or for that matter- why didn't the Democratically controlled Congress move to enact legislation to prevent such a disaster from happening?

And have no doubt- all the radical muslims hate us for one reason- Israel. They want that nation wiped off the map and its people exterminated. Period. They HATE them, and they HATE us for our support of them. RADICAL muslims = HATRED of ALL OTHER peoples. PERIOD.If you are not muslim, you are an infidel and must be killed.

Lord, help us.

Anonymous said...

Quite frankly, I don't think it took either a prophet or a genius to see through the Bush White House response to 9/11.

We're in a mess and yes, I think Clinton did contribute to the current crises, but he wasn't the first. He did recognize the increasing power and influence of Fannie and Freddy, tried to assert some regulatory oversight and failed. Near the end of his term a bill was introduced by his Treasury dept. to stifle the growth of the FMs, who in turn decried the bill as cutting out 206,000 potential homeowners. The Treasury Dept. backed off and the bill died.

The FMs used govt. influence and support to bolster their porfits rather than reduce interest rates, yet the budget office feared the resulting harm in severing govt. ties to the two entities even then.

In 2003 the FMs admitted to cooking their books. They leaned on their Congressional suporters. Robt. Bennett (R-Ohio) watered down a bill which would have provided some oversight and regulatory control. But the bill became so diluted not even the Repub. White House could support it. And guess what: Bennett's 2d largest contributor was Fannie-Mae and Bennett's son was Deputy Dir. of Fannie's Utah office.

Who contributed to this current crises? They all did. Carter started the unraveling of FDRs New Deal because he wanted freedom and efficency . Reagan came along and ended up with the largest deficit in history (up to now, anyway). Regan's policies saw an erosion of the middle class while poverty increased. He established the current rhetoric of governing as evil, government as the enemy rather than the protector of the people. Bush, Sr. promoted US corporate interests overseas.
The corporate world became enriched while the rest of the country fell into a recession. Clinton deregulated world trade and fed corporate global profit at the expense of the middle class. G. W. Bush has slashed taxes for the wealthy and the coporations. W's tax and trade policies have contributed to he greatest rise in income disparity . The Bush administration has enjoyed six years of Republican-controlled policy and strategy. This current crises was forseeable. You tell me why something wasn't done to avert this crises. I'm open to hearing your explanation. The fault doesn't lie entirely with Bill Clinton, as you assert. And, the Dem-controlled Congress has been busy putting out the fires created by this lame-duck President. We've been fighting over the war in Iraq while the banking and credit industry was busy raking it in behind our backs.

Please don't assume that all Muslims are radicals just as all Christians are not fantatical far-right, hate mongers.

Anonymous said...

"In his current campaign, however, McCain has become the kind of politician he ran against in 2000. He has embraced those he once denounced as "agents of intolerance," promised more drilling and deeper tax cuts, even compromised his vaunted opposition to torture. Intent on winning the presidency at all costs, he has reassembled the very team that so viciously smeared him and his family eight years ago, selecting as his running mate a born-again moose hunter whose only qualification for office is her ability to electrify Rove's base. And he has engaged in a "practice of politics" so deceptive that even Rove himself has denounced it, saying that the outright lies in McCain's campaign ads go "too far" and fail the "truth test."

Read the entire story:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

Anonymous said...

candidate was ranked 894th out of the 899 cadets in his graduating class at the Naval Academy and the other candidate graduated as editor of the Harvard Law Review. This lopsided intellectual match was a clear indicator of the two men's abilities. It seems clear that if McCain's father was not a high ranking Navy officer he would not have been admitted to the Naval Academy.

Actually, students are appointed to the Naval Academy by their congressmen.
Obama got a political appointment to Harvard, he was not qualified for affirmative action(seems they actually have 'some' standands even for that)
While we know where McCain graduated, we 'don't' know where Obama graduated,either from Columbia(if he actually did) or Harvard(if he actually did) NONE of his records have been released.